Tubing hanger for oil wells



Dec. 5, 1933. c. (3 BROWN 1,938,062

TUBING HANGER FOR OIL WELLS Filed Feb. 20, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 5, 1933. Q Q BROWN 1,938,062

TUBING HANGER FOR OIL WELLS Filed Feb. 20, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TUBING HANGER FOB 01L WELLS Cicero C. Brown, Houston, Tex.

Application February 20, 1931. Serial No. 517,137

- Claims. (01. 24-263)- My invention relates to tubing hangers for use with casing head equipment for oil wells. It pertains particularly to the means for supportingthetubinginthecasing.

This invention is an improvement upon the device shown in my co-pending application Serial No. 374,113, filed June 27, 1929, Patent No. 1,811,- 422, issued June 23, 1931, and the object of the invention is to provide an improved form 10 of tubing hanger by means of which the stationary portion of the tubing is supported in the well. I desire to provide a hanger which may be placed upon the upper end of the tubing as it is supported in the well and adapt it to engage and be supported upon the upper length of easing, be-

low the master valve therein.

It is a further object to provide a hanger of this character which may be locked in position in the casing in a simple and eifective manner without disturbing the usual equipment of the well. I

I aim to provide a hanger which may be inserted through the blowout preventer and into the upper end of the casing and adjusted into fixed position 5 in the casing without the necessity of disturbing the apparatus normally present at the upper end of the well.

In the drawings herewith Fig. l is a side view partly in central vertical section, illustrating my 0 hanger in fixed position at the upper end of the casing, which is attached to the master valve.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the plane 2--2 oi Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar section on the plane 33 of Fi 1. I I

Fig. 4 is a broken assembly view illustrating the manner in which the hanger is set in position relative to the usual equipment employed upon the well, part of the structure being in central vertical section.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the clamping member of the hanger.

In the drawings the upper end of the casing may be equipped with a short nipple 1, threaded 5 at its upper end 2 for engagement with the gate valve 3. The lower end is threaded at 4 to engage with a coupling by means of which it is connected with the next lower section of casing. As shown, however, in Fig. 4, the casing 0 1' may be secured directly to the lower end'of the gate valve without the necessity of a separate nipple 1. The section 1 of the casing is screwed within the lower end of the gate valve and the upper end of the casing section provides a shoulder 5 upon which my hanger may be seated.

Normally the gate valve is separated from the upper end of the casing by means of a section of casing 6, which may be connected by a coupling 7 to a blowout preventer 8 of any desired construction. The blowout preventer shown in Fig. 4 is a steam-operated blowout preventer of common construction now in general use in the oil fields and need not be specifically described, it being understood, however, that any preferred type of blowout preventer may be used, this being no part of the invention. As shown in the drawings the blowout preventer has a lateral opening 9 through which an outlet pipe may be attached thereto.

The well having been finished the tubing or fiow line is introduced into the well and it is desirable to do this without removing the usual equipment from the casing. I therefore connect at the upper end of the tubing 10, which extends into the well, a hanger member 11 which is engaged with said tubing by a pipe coupling 11, as seen in Figs. 1 and 4. This member, as shown particularly in Fig. 1, is of slightly larger diameter than is the tubing and toward its upper end is increased somewhat in outer diameter at 12 and at the upper extremity a head 13 is formed thereon. This head has an outer tapered surface 14 to seat within the tapered bowl 15 of the clamping member 16. The inner surface of the head has a downwardly tapered seat 17, which may be used to connect with the separable portion of tubing disclosed in my prior application above referred to. Below the tapered'seat the interior of the hanger is threaded at 18 to engage with a section of tubing 19, extending upwardly through the casing, and the blowout preventer. It is understood that this tubing which forms the fiow line may be connected to a cross 20, at its upper end, through which the flow may be directed into various channels in the usual manner. A stuiling box 21 may be employed to form a fluid tight fit between the tubing and the upper end of the blowout preventer if desired.

The head 13 upon the hanger 11 does not ex- 109 tend fully about the hanger but, as will be seen from Fig. 4, said head 13 projects from opposite sides of the hanger and covers only a portion thereof adapted to fit within the upper seat 15 of the clamping member, said seat being shown particularly in Fig. 5. The head therefore serves not only as a supporting member for the hanger but acts to expand the clamping member 16.

With reference particularly to Fig. 5, the

structure of the clamping member may now be noted. It comprises a lower ring or sleeve 23 having two upwardly extending arms 24. These arms are increased in thickness midway of their ends, as shown at 25, and the upper portion .of each arm has a laterally projecting shoulder 26 thereon to engage upon the shoulder 5 at the upper end of the casing. On the interior of the clamping member there is an inwardly extending boss or projection 27, the upper end 28 of which forms a shoulder against which a lug, 29 upon the hanger may contact.

In equipping the well after production has been obtained the lower portion of the tubing, which is to be supported in the casing at the lower side of the gate valve, is connected with the hanger 11, by the coupling 11' previously noted.

Before this connection is made, however, the clamping member shown in Fig. 5 is fitted about the hanger with the opposite lugs 29 on the hanger engaging against the shoulders 30 on the clamping member. The upper end of the tubing is then connected in the threaded portion 18 of the hanger and the device is lowered downwardly through the blowout preventer and the upper portion of the casing and through the gate valve 3. With the parts in the position noted the head 13 upon the hanger will be spaced above the clamping member which will be pushed downwardly in advance of the hanger by contact of one of the lugs 29 with the shoulder on the interior of the clamping member. The upper portion of the clamping member will be allowed to spring inwardly as the projections on the interior of the casing are encountered. It will be seen that the clamping member is free to drop down the tubing until it is stopped by the coupling 11', which limits its relative downward movement. When the clamping member engages with the shoulder 5 at the upper end of the casing, however, it will be stopped and the tubing may be raised and rotated to bring the lugs 29 off of the shoulders 30 and in vertical alignment with grooves 31 of said clamping member, and allow the hanger to drop downwardly and the tubing may then be rotated to bring the lugs 29 in vertical alignment with grooves 31 in said clamping member and the opposite portions of the head 13 may then engage within the seat members 17 on the clamping member, thus tending to force the two arms of the clamping member more firmly into an expanded position with the shoulders 26 firmly seated on the upper end of the casing. When the tubing is rotated to bring the hanger into this position one of the lugs 29 upon the hanger will engage with the side of the projection 27 and limit further rotation, as shown in Fig. 3. This rotation also brings the lugs 29 into registration with the grooves 31 in the body 23 and allows said lugs to pass downwardly therethrough as the projections 13 on the hanger move into clamping position in the seat 15 of the clamping member.

When the hanger and the clamping member connected therewith are thus fixed in position to support the tubing the uppersection 19 may be unscrewed and withdrawn if it is desired to equip the well with the improvement shown in my previous application above referred to. In either case the upper end of the flow line will be equipped with the Christmas tree ordinarily employed as shown at 20 and the usual arrangements must then be made for allowing the well to flow.

The advantage of this hanger lies in the fact that it needs no special equipment to support it. It may be introduced directly into position with the hanger below the gate valve so that when the upper section of tubing is removed the gate valve may be closed. This may be done in any ordinary casing equipment for the well without any special provision, my hanger being adapt- .ed for use therein without any change in the usual installation provided on wells of this character.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a well head equipment, a casing, a tubing in said'casing, a tubing hanger on said tubing adjacent the upper end thereof, a clamping member fitting about said hanger, means on said member to engage the upper end of a section of said casing, and means on said hanger to expand said clamping member into fixed supporting pofition on said casing.

2. In a well head equipment, a casing, a tubing in said casing, a tubing hanger on said tubing adjacent the upper end thereof, a clamping mem- 1 ber fitting about said hanger, means on said member to engage the upper end of a section of said casing, and means on said hanger to expand said clamping member into fixed supporting position on said casing, said expanding means also acting to engage said clamping member to support said tubing thereon.

3. In a well head equipment, a casing, a tubing in said casing, a tubing hanger on said tubing adjacent the upper end thereof, a clamping member fitting about said hanger, lugs on said hanger adapted to engage said clamping device to exert a thrust thereon, means on said member to engage the upper end of a section of said casing, and means on said hanger to expand said clamping member into fixed supporting position on said casmg.

4. In a well head equipment, a casing, a tubing in said casing, a tubing hanger on said tubing adjacent the upper end thereof, a clamping member fitting about said hanger, resilient arms on said member, shoulders on said arms projecting outwardly on said member to engage the upper end of a section of said casing, and means on said hanger to expand said clamping member into fixed supporting position on said casing.

5. In a well head equipment, a sectional casing, means in said casing adjacent the upper end thereof connecting two of the sections of said. casing together, a tubing hanger insertible downwardly in said casing, clamping meansthereon to automatically engage the upper end 01. one of said casing sections, and means to force said clamping means firmly into supporting engagement with said upper end of said casing section.

6. In a well head equipment, a sectional owing, means in said casing adjacent the upper end thereof connecting two of the sections of said casing together, a tubing hanger insertible downwardly in said casing, clamping means thereon 140 to automatically engage the upper end of one 01 said casing sections, and means on said hanger engaging within said clamping means to force said clamping means firmly into supporting engagement with said upper end of said casing 145 section.

'7. In a well head equipment, a sectional casing, means in said casing adjacent the upper end thereof connecting two of the sections of said casing together, a tubing hanger insertible down- 0 wardly in said casing, a ring about said hanger, upwardly extending resilient arms thereon, shoulders on said arms to automatically engage the upper end or one of said casing sections, and means to force said clamping means firmly into supporting engagement with said upper end of said casing section.

8. In combination, a well casing, the casing having a shoulder, a tubing in said casing, a tubing hanger including a body and opposed projections thereon forming a head, a clamping member on said hanger, lugs on said hanger to engage and force said hanger downwardly in said casing to engage said shoulder, means in said clamping member engaging said hanger to limit the rotation of said hanger relative thereto.

9. In combination, a well casing, the casing having a shoulder, a tubing in said casing, a tubing hanger including a body and opposed projections thereon forming a head, a clamping member on said hanger, lugs on said hanger to engage and force said hanger downwardly in said casing to engage said shoulder, means in said clamping member engaging said hanger to limit the rotation of said hanger relative thereto, said head being adapted to fit within said clamping member and hold it in firm engagement with said shoulder.

10. A device for supporting a tubing in a casing including, a hanger on said tubing, means adjustable on said hanger and insertible downwardly in said casing to automatically engage the upper end of a casing section to support said tubing in said casing, and means on said hanger to wedge within said casing engaging means to force it outwardiy and clamp said casing engaging means in supporting position.

memo 0. BROWN. 

